Surf beaches claim many lives each year. Generally speaking, people drown because they overestimate their abilities in the surf and underestimate the inherent dangers of the surf. From time to time, people also drown on beaches and very near to beaches patrolled by lifeguards. This happens because it is not always possible to sight a drowning person, particularly if the surf is choppy or if the person is far from shore and their cries for help are inaudible.
In many if not most instances, persons might have been saved from drowning if only they had with them a flotation aid of sorts or if only they had been sighted by a nearby person sooner. Sometimes it comes down to a matter of minutes whether a person drowning will live or die.
There are many reasons as to why people do not carry flotation aids or beacons of sorts (ie. visual signals for attracting attention) with them into the surf. Such aids or beacons, for instance, may not be commercially available, or may be unfashionable, or may be thought to be unnecessary, or may be a source of discomfort or inconvenience when swimming in the surf, particularly if such an aid or beacon is not in a compact form. Needless to say, swimming in the surf would be less enjoyable if one had to swim with an inflated flotation aid, such as a life buoy, continuously in tow.
Each year, search rescue teams are sent by air or on foot in search of persons lost in wilderness regions. Such persons, eg. hikers, become lost or stranded for a plethora of reasons, and in many instances such persons are not equipped with a beacon of sorts (eg. flare) to alert rescuers as to their position.
There are many reasons as to why people do not carry beacons of sorts with them when exploring wilderness regions. Such beacons, for instance, may not be commercially available, or may be expensive to purchase, or may be thought to be unnecessary, or may be a source of discomfort or inconvenience (adding weight and volume to the load already being carried), particularly if the beacon is not in a compact form.
It would be advantageous to have a beacon of sorts that could be worn by a person, whether for swimming or for hiking, that provides little discomfort or inconvenience to the wearer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatable buoy that meets at least one of the advantages stated above.